


Heaven Isn’t Too Far Away

by orphan_account



Series: I Did Something Bad [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe- No Hunting, Angst and Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, Barista Gabriel (Supernatural), Beta Sam Winchester, Death in Childbirth, Friends to Lovers, Hurt Sam Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Castiel/Dean Winchester, Minor Character Death, Minor Sam Winchester/Other, Omega Gabriel (Supernatural), Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Strangers to Lovers, True Mates, Unplanned Pregnancy, Writer Sam Winchester
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-07-11 02:01:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15962318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When an unexpected pregnancy causes Sam to lose both the pup and his bond in childbirth, Sam spirals out of control.Grieving, alone, and quickly losing the scent of the only woman he’s ever loved, Sam is left to pick up the pieces of his broken life. Too bad the overly friendly waiter at his local coffee shop seems determined to help him through it, whether Sam likes it or not.“Why do I get the feeling that you’re about to mess up my entire life?”(previously known as “Happily Ever After”)





	1. Prologue

Sam wakes up to the smell of blood and distressed Omega. 

Sam wakes up alone.

He immediately straightens, the covers falling off of his bare chest. “Jessica?”

There’s a quiet sob, and Sam springs out of bed, following the scent to the bathroom. 

Jessica is on the floor, curled in the fetal position, in a pool of her own blood. 

“No!” Sam dropped to his hands and knees, palms slipping on the tile. “No, no, no, Jessica.”

Jessica’s head lolls to look up at Sam, eyelids fluttering. “Sam,” She wheezes. “The pup.” 

Thirty minutes later, Sam’s arguing with a small Omega while doctors rush in and out of Jessica’s room. He can’t hear what they’re talking about, but he knows it isn’t good. 

“Let me in! Is she alright? Can I see her?” The nurse in front of him shakes her head. “She’s my bond,” Sam insists, tears pricking at his eyes as another scream tears from Jessica’s room. 

“Mates only,” the nurse says, tapping the clipboard with her pencil. “Says here that she’s unmated.”

”That’s my _pup_ ,” Sam cries.

She softens, looking at Sam with sad, sympathetic eyes. “I’m really sorry, honey,” She says softly. 

All the rage drains from him in an instant, and Sam sags against the wall like a marionette with it’s strings cut. “That’s my pup,” he repeats.

“I’m sorry,” the nurse repeats, and the screaming comes to an abrupt stop. 

Sam stares at his hands, slick with Jessica’s blood. 

He doesn’t need to ask what happened. 

She’s gone.


	2. Sasquatch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A million thoughts run through Sam’s head, the loudest being _who are you_ and _why are you here_ , but what comes out is, “Sasquatch?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Meeting.

Sam wakes up to the smell of stress and depression.

He wakes up alone.

His phone rings, rattling on the nightstand, and he stares at it, unmoving, for three long rings before picking it up.

He doesn’t look at the caller I.D. He doesn’t need to. He already knows who’s calling.

“Hey, Dean.”

“Sammy!” Dean’s voice is too loud, too cheerful, and Sam winces, holding thebphone away from his ear. “Sorry I didn’t call sooner, Claire wouldn’t eat her breakfast.”

“That’s-” a loud crash comes through the speaker. Cas’s warning growl follows, and he waits patiently to continue. “That’s alright,” Sam says. “I slept in, anyway.”

Someone starts crying, and Dean curses. “Shit, gotta go. Call you back!” He hangs up quickly, leaving Sam no time to respond.

“Okay,” he says to the empty room.

———

Sam goes through the motions- showers, gets dressed, brushes his teeth and hair- but he doesn’t really feel anything until he’s standing in front of the calendar, pen in hand.

His therapist had told him to get rid of it. She said it was just another reminder of the days that had passed since Jessica.

She was right, of course, but it was for that reason that he hadn’t.

He stares at the calendar for a long time, at the blank days that are left in the month and the red slashes marking the days already passed.

He turns the page back, back to August, and looks at the days run through with careful black ink, the days not blank at all, but filled with Jessica’s neat, looping handwriting, colors coded to the nature of the events. He puts a finger on the only day left clear of the slashes representing passed days.

_Pup due!_

The cheery, yellow script mocks him, and Sam flips the calendar back to September and crosses out Friday, September 14th, was he ink red like blood.

A loud ring echoes through the room, and he jumps, slamming the calendar shut. “Shit,” he breathes, and picks up his phone.

“Hey, Dean.” He crosses the room and sits down at his table.

“Sam. When’s the last time you left the house?” Dean’s voice is straight to the point, and Sam flinches a little, looking down at the tabletop and scratching on it.

He closes his eyes, swallowing down the lump in his throat, and speaks. “August 15th.” The memory bubbles to the surface, the taste of beer and blood on his lips, the angry screaming and Dean’s bloody face still fresh in his mind.

He’d always struggled with anger, but that night he had had crossed lines Sam didn’t know he was capable of crossing.

He’s surprised Dean’s even still talking to him.

“August 15th? Sam, that’s almost a month,” Dean says sternly.

“I know how long ago it was, Dean, I can count,” Sam snaps, then immediately regrets it. There’s a heavy silence on the other side, and he sighs. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Dean clears his throat, shifts. In he background, Claire is telling Cas a story. “I called Ruby, Sam.”

Sam immediately straightens, looking around as if she was going to appear in front of him. “ _Why would you do that_?”

“Because, Sam, you need to work. You can’t keep living off of a couple hundred dollars and delievery.” Dean pauses, as if waiting for an argument, but Sam doesn’t have one. “I want you to get out of the house, Sam.”

This time, Sam does have an argument. “Dean-”

“I mean it, Sam. Get your butt out to some frickin’ hippie coffee shop or something.”

The censorship almost has Sam laughing, but he remains serious as he looks over at his kitchen. “I-”

“Call Ruby. Go out. I mean it, Sam.” There’s a pause, and Dean significantly lowers his voice before saying, “Bitch.”

Sam makes an amused noise almost like a laugh, the closest he’s gotten in a month. “Jerk,” he responds easily.

“Talk to you later,” Dean says, a smile to his voice.

“Yeah, bye,” Sam says. Dean hangs up, and he sighs, eyeing his laptop.

Maybe he _will_ go out.

———

Sam walks down the sidewalk, laptop tucked under his arm and phone at his ear.

“I don’t really want to do a romance, Ruby,” he says with a sigh, gaze sliding from one nondescript storefront to the next.

“I know it’s difficult, Sam, but sex sells,” she says, her voice low and seductive. She’d been tempting, once, but now, Sam’s just annoyed.

“Ruby-”

“Think of it as a tribute,” she suggests. He can hear her typing away, probably hacking some poor up-and-coming author’s work to pieces. “Dedicate it to her- the fans will go nuts.”

Sam takes a deep breath and counts back from three. “I don’t really care about the fans, Ruby,” he says, and the words come out sharp despite his best efforts. “It’s too soon.”

The clacking comes to an abrupt stop, and Ruby’s voice is suddenly too loud, too close. “An entire month with nothing, Sam. Nothing. Not a peep. No new chapters, no book ideas, not a single word. My contract with Lilith means that you have to be producing work. You’re awfully lucky Chuck swooped in, or I’d have dropped you by now, dead mate or no.”

Sam’s anger is quickly replaced by guilt and fear. He didn’t want the tensions between Lilith and Ruby to get any higher- Lilith could ruin them all if she wanted to. He knew Ruby would never take that chance- and if she dropped him, he’d have nothing.

“I know. Sorry,” he murmurs, eyes fixed on the ground. Chuck’s _Supernatural_ idea was a major hit- Lilith had already signed him on for a series contract, and the first book was being embellished by her company as they spoke.

Ruby softens, her voice losing it’s edge as her typing starts up again. “Just get me the first chapter, Sam. I can stave her off with a single for now, but you’re going to have to pick back up _Warriors_ sometime.”

“I know, Ruby,” he says. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem,” She says. “We wouldn’t want you to turn up like Bela, now would we?”

And with that, she hangs up, her threat heavy in the silence left behind.

Sam stares at the dark screen of his phone. _How am I supposed to do this?_

A bell rings, and Sam looks up. He’s stopped in front of a small café, the colorful letters on the door reading _Heaven Scent._

Something about it rings as familiar, so Sam makes his way inside, settling in a quiet booth in the corner, away from the handsy couples and tired college students.

He sets down his laptop, logs on, and types two words.

_to her_

It’s as far as he gets before his mind hits a giant, Jessica-shaped wall.

He sits in the coffee shop for an hour, mind whirling as he tries to come up with anything- a plot, a backstory, a character, anything- and comes up with nothing.

He’s still staring at an empty document when a barista walks up, cup in hand.

“I didn’t order coffee,” Sam murmurs on instinct.

“Don’t worry, Sasquatch, it’s on the house,” The barista responds, and it startles Sam into meeting his eyes.

The eyes are warm and hazel, dancing with a quiet mirth even now, as he looks down at a depressed beta who’s been sitting in a corner for the past hour without ordering anything. He’s an Omega, if Sam has to guess- his antidepressants mess with his nose, and he hasn’t been able to properly identify a secondary gender in weeks.

The barista sets the coffe down in front of Sam and smiles.

A million thoughts run through Sam’s head, the loudest being _who are you_ and _why are you here_ , but what comes out is, “Sasquatch?”

The barista laughs, and Sam takes the distraction as an opportunity to look for a name tag, but he doesn’t seem to be wearing one. Damn it. “I mean, look at you,” The barista says, gesturing to Sam. “What are you, seven feet tall?”

“6’4, actually,” Sam corrects automatically, and the barista laughs again, as if to say, my point exactly.

“Well, see you later, Sasquatch,” he says. For a moment that seems to stretch into forever, he simply looks at Sam with a small smile, but then, with a wink, he turns and is gone, as if he’d never been there.

Sam picks up the coffee cup, and he notices a small number scrawled on the side.

_**xxx-xxx-xxxx** _

_**G** _

After a long moment, Sam allows a smile.

* * *

 

Gabriel wakes up abruptly, the screaming of his alarm tearing through his dream.

“I’m _up_ ,” he protests, but the alarm doesn’t particularly care, the screaming only growing in volume.

He groans, rolling onto his back and picking up his phone and smacking the bright orange ‘sleep’ button.

The time blinks back up at him- _5:35_. He groans again, louder, and sits up, the blankets falling off of him and leaving him exposed to the cold air.

He’s settled into a _routine,_ and he doesn’t like it. Not at all.

Grumbling to himself, he gets dressed, brushes his teeth and hair, slips out the door.

It’s not anyone’s fault but his own. He knew that settling down and starting up a coffee shop meant routines, strict scheduling he’d have to follow.

He doesn’t have to like it, though, and for now, he’s content with being bitter.

When he arrives, Meg is already there, steadily setting up shop. She calls back to him with mirth in her voice. “On time today, are we?”

Gabriel rolls his eyes, draping his jacket over his arm. “One time, Meg.”

“One time in which you didn’t show up until closing,” She responds, poking her head out from the back storage room.

He closes his eyes, and for a moment, he can smell the alcohol, taste the Alpha on his lips. He shakes his head. _Maybe routines aren’t so bad,_ he thinks.

“That was before,” Gabriel says. Her laugh is warm.

———

The beginning of the day is boring, one costumer blurring into another.

A few regulars stop by; Charlie, who flirts with Meg shamelessly; Kevin, whose motherlooms over him dangerously; and, of course, Castiel, clad in his daily trench coat and picking up a coffee for both him and his _lovely_ husband, who he reeks of. Gabriel tells him as much, and Cas laughs.

“Well, that does happen when you manage to settle down,” he says, arching an eyebrow pointedly.

Gabriel pretends to gag, chuckling. “No thank you. Yo ho, yo ho, it’s the single life for me.” And he means it.

Mostly.

Or, he should say, he does mean it, until the tall, devilishly handsome Beta stops outside of his shop.

The second Gabriel sets his sights on him, he knows he’s fucked. The man pushes a hand through his hair and frowns tightly, phone to his ear and laptop under his arm.

He goes from indignant to apologetic in a moment, shoulders curling in on themselves and hand dropping from his hair to curl loosely at his side. He nods, and then tucks the phone away in the pocket of his jacket.

His head snaps up, and Gabriel’s snaps down, to the coffee he was in the middle of making.

He can’t help but to glance up when he walks in, and he tells himself he can’t help the smile, either.

———

An hour.

He sits there for an hour.

He pulls out his laptop, starts typing, and stops as abruptly as he’d started.

And then he sits there.

_For an hour._

Meg laughs, catching Gabriel staring for the umpteenth time. “Just go _talk_ to him,” she says. She tilts her head, examining the man closely. “Before I do,” She adds in a purr, and laughs when a small rumble escapes Gabriel’s throat. “Go get ‘em, tiger,” she encourages.

Gabriel rolls his eyes. “I need a reason, I can’t just walk up to him.”

“That’s easy enough,” she says, and hands Gabriel a cup of coffee. “Tell him it’s on the house.”

Gabriel blinks at her, then down at the coffee, and smiles. “Alright,” he says, and he saunters towards the Beta, all smiles.

———

Gabriel settles back down behind the counter, a half-smile still on his lips. Meg whistles. “That bad?”

“I’m done for,” Gabriel declares, firmly keeping his eyes on the ceiling rather than towards the Beta, who, to Gabriel’s best guess, is getting ready to leave.

When the door rings, he looks up just in time to catch the Sasquatch’s curling half-wave. Gabriel smiles and returns it.

“Awwww,” Meg coos.

“Shut up,” Gabriel says halfheartedly, but his eyes don’t leave the Beta until he’s out of sight.

———

The message comes through two hours after closing.

**[9:15pm] _Unknown:_** _Hey, this is Sam. From the coffee shop._

_**Gabriel:** Well, hey there. The name’s Gabriel. _  

_**Samsquatch:** interesting name._

_**Gabriel:** So l’m told._

One beat. Two. Gabriel’s heart catches in his throat.

_**Samsquatch:** how do you even manage sarcasm over text?_

_**Gabriel:** Magic._

_**Samsquatch:** cheeky. _

__**Gabriel:** it’s a gift._ _

When Sam doesn’t immediately respond, Gabriel sets down his phone and makes his way into the kitchen. He pulls the recipient book from his cabinet and thumbs through until he finds them. _Pumpkin muffins, page 123._

Cas says it’s too early to celebrate. Well, screw him.

Gabriel rolls up his sleeves and starts baking.

———

He’s dozing on the couch when his phone goes off again, and he leaps out of his skin before responding.

**[10:35pm] _Samsquatch:_** _Sorry, therapist appointment._

_**Gabriel:** Jesus, you scared me._

**_Samsquatch_ ** _: sorry._

**_Gabriel:_ ** _therapist? At 9?_

_**Samsquatch:** unorthodox therapist. _

_**Samsquatch:** figured I’d let you know what you’ve gotten yourself into_

_**Gabriel:** I don’t mind a little baggage_

_**Gabriel:** I’d be a hypocrite if I did_

There’s a long pause, as if Sam’s waiting for something. Gabriel takes his muffins out of the oven.

**_Samsquatch:_ ** _now what_

Gabriel smiles at his phone, the light from the screen illuminating his otherwise dark kitchen.

_**Gabriel:** I don’t know_

No response comes, and Gabriel’s elation ebbs as the minutes slide by.

He puts down his phone and picks up a muffin, chewing on it thoughtfully.

It was a long shot, anyway. The Beta had reeked of loss and mourning.

But he’d hoped-

No. It’s too soon for Gabriel, it seems.

Another day.

He doesn’t notice his phone light up again as he climbs into his bed, a resigned air about him.

And as he drifts off to sleep, he pushes Sam firmly from his mind.


	3. Moose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pause, followed by a voice considerably warmer than before. “You inviting me to Netflix and Chill, Sammy?” Gabriel asks, and Sam chokes on nothing, face flaming. 
> 
>  
> 
> “I-” Sam begins, but he doesn’t know what he’s going to say. _Only if you want to_ is the first thing that pops into his brain, and he wipes his hand across his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait! I got a sudden burst of inspiration today and wrote this whole (4k!) chapter in one day, so I apologize for any typos. This is an unedited mess.

When Sam wakes up the next morning, he feels...  

Better.  

Better then he has in weeks, actually.  

For a few moments he just lays there, blinking up at the ceiling in mild shock.  

Maybe leaving the house hadn’t been such a bad thing, after all.  

Eventually he decides if he doesn’t get out of bed now he won’t get out at all, and he climbs out, instinctively picking up his phone as he goes. He glances at the screen as he gets dressed, and his heart does a funny little leap.  

_One new message from: Gabriel_

He picks up his phone and spends a few moments scrolling through last night’s conversation before looking at Gabriel’s response.  

**_Sam:_** _you going to be at the café tomorrow?_

**[6:15am] _Gabriel:_** _every day, babe._

His heart does that funny flip again, and this time, his stomach joins in, rolling together in a strange emotion he doesn’t know how to place. Emboldened by a single word, he shoots Gabriel a message embed with confidence he doesn’t have.  

**[7:00am] _Sam:_** _see you today, then?_

While he waits, he brushes his teeth and carefully styles his hair in the mirror. When he’s tying his shoes, his phone pings again, and he can’t help the grin that lights up his face.  

**[7:15am] _Gabriel:_** _only if you show up ;)_

Heart in his throat, Sam pockets his phone and heads out the door.  

——— 

It doesn’t occur to Sam the whole walk (really, it’s more of a jog).  

He doesn’t think about it, his entire mind focused on Gabriel.  

It doesn’t occur to him until he’s at the counter, face-to-face with dancing hazel eyes.  

“No laptop today?” Gabriel’s smile is crooked, and Sam blinks, his face giving his thoughts away. Gabriel’s grin grows. “Forgot it? I’m that tempting, am I?”  

Sam blushes, furiously. God, he hasn’t felt like this since he was in college. Gabriel winks, and passes a coffee over the counter. 

Sam fumbles for his money, but Gabriel tuts. “On the house, Samsquatch.”  

“Samsquatch, now?” It’s all that Sam can get out, the stuttering mess that he is.  

Gabriel winks. “Holding up the line, sweetheart.”  

Sam very well might faint. “S-sorry,” he mumbles. He takes his coffee and leaves, sipping the drink as he walks back to his apartment significantly slower than he’d walked there. By the time he reaches the apartment, his coffee is long gone. He grabs his laptop, dumps the coffee, and resigns himself to another few hundred steps for the day as he turns right back around to walk back to the shop. His phone pings, and his heart returns to his throat as he scrambles to look at his message. 

**[7:30am] _Gabriel:_** _Sorry if I scared ya off, Samsquatch_

_**Sam:** no, you’re fine_

**_Sam:_** _i just went to get my laptop_

Gabriel doesn’t respond, so Sam just assumes he’s back on the job- before realizing he’s walked right past the coffee shop. Shaking his head, he turns and nearly smacks right into Cas, two cups of coffee in his hand.  

“Hello, Sam,” Cas says, smiling warmly even as he weaves to avoid coffee spillage.  

“Cas!” Sam ducks his head, slipping his phone in his pocket with a weirdly guilty feeling pulling at his heart.  

Cas tilts his head and screws up his eyes in the most Cas way. “You smell different,” he says.  

“It’s been a month, I’m not surprised,” Sam says, shifting to peer over his shoulder. In the window of _Heaven Scent,_ Gabriel is serving a customer, his nose crinkled up in a smile. Sam feels a strange surge of possessiveness, and he quickly looks away.  

Cas frowns. “I suppose.” He squints at Sam for a moment longer before seeming to return to himself, offering the Beta a half smile. “Well, I’ve got to get this coffee to Dean. You know how he is.”  

“I do,” Sam agrees, wrapping his fingers around the strap of his laptop case. “I’ll see you next time, okay Cas?” He looks back at the coffee shop, and is both disappointed and relieved to see that Gabriel has gone. 

“Okay...” Cas turns to look at the shop, brow furrowed, then turns back to Sam with something like understanding in his eyes. “I’ll see you.” 

“Yeah.” Sam flashes him a tight smile, and ducks past him into the shop.  

Cas lingers there for a moment, and then he’s gone.  

Sam’s gaze catches on Gabriel’s instantly, and he sucks his bottom lip into his mouth when Gabriel smirks, lazy and crooked. Ducking his head, Sam slides into the nearest booth, setting his laptop up and signing onto his newest writing document.  

_to her_

Smiling, Sam begins to write.   

——— 

He’s hunched over his laptop for a long time before Gabriel wanders over- he’s even managed to get the hints of a plot and is well into the shape of the first chapter when the cup lands on his table.  

“Hey there, Moose,” Gabriel greets, grin wide.  

Sam straightens, his back popping painfully as he does. “You just gonna have a new name for me every time we talk, then?”  

“I can’t take credit for that. You can thank Meg’s boyfriend.” Gabriel sets a hand on his hip, tilting his head in a way that reminds Sam eerily of Cas.  

Sam nods like he has any idea who those people are, and accepts the coffee with a grateful smile.  

“You smell different,” Gabriel announces, sliding in the booth across from Sam.  

“Good different or bad different?” Sam asks, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.  

“I don’t think you can smell bad different, babe,” Gabriel says with a grin, leaning forward with his elbows on the table.  

Sam’s brain shuts down. He says, “that’s not very professional of you.”  

“C’mon, sweetheart, all sense of professionalism went out the window when I gave you my number.” Gabriel’s eyebrows furrow together even as he flirts, and Sam suddenly wishes he could smell him, get a sense of what Gabriel’s thinking. Gabriel leans forward almost subconsciously, an odd look crossing his face.  

“Gabriel?” Sam tilts his head in a mirror of Gabriel’s, and Gabriel shakes his head, leaning back to create space.  

“Sorry, you just smell...” Gabriel shakes his head and stands, sliding out of the booth. “Sorry, I’ve gotta get back to work.”  

Sam watches him, slightly puzzled, but he lets him go.  

——— 

About an hour later, Sam’s got a good first chapter going, and a girl with long back hair stops by, dropping off a coffee to replace the one Gabe left.  

“Hey there, Sammy,” She says with a little smirk. “I’m Meg.”  

“Oh.” Sam blinks up at her, a polite smile on his features. “Gabriel mentioned you.”  

“Speaking of.” She crinkled her nose, waving her hand in front of her face. “Has he been getting too up close and personal?”  

Sam frowned. “No, he hasn’t even touched me. Why?” 

Meg arched a single eyebrow. “Certainly explains why he asked me to wingman for him. You reek of him, Sammy. It’s like Gabriel city up in here.”  

“Oh,” Sam says, frowning. “I guess that explains this morning.”  

“Yeah, well,” Meg smiles. “Better keep an eye out there, Sammy. It’s unlikely he’ll be able to keep his hands off of you.”  

Sam’s eyebrows go up, and his eyes widen considerably. “Oh,” He repeats.  

“Don’t mind that idea, do ya, Sammy?” She winks. “I’ll pass the message along.”  

Sam is helpless to do anything but watch as she leaves.  

——— 

When Sam finally packs up to leave, he can feel Gabriel’s eyes hot and heavy against his back, and he twists to wave at the Omega as he ducks out the door. 

Gabriel waves back, the move nothing but a curl of his fingers.  

Sam pulls out his phone and clicks over to Gabriel’s contact. Heart pumping, he types out a short message.  

**[9:10am] _Sam:_** _feel free to call me when you’re off._

He tucks his phone into his back pocket and grins as the ping on Gabe’s phone echoes through the small shop.  

——— 

Gabriel doesn’t reply for a while, but Sam’s too busy jacking off in the shower to even notice.  

Sam doesn’t understand why Gabriel has such a hold on him. Something about the way everyone had reacted- the way Gabriel had reacted- the knowledge that he smells like Gabriel, the distinctly Omega-like pleasure of feeling owned. It’s a part of him he’d been afraid to look at with Jessica. She’d been meek, despite her Omega activist tendencies, and Sam had taken the role of an Alpha in that relationship. 

When he does respond, though, it’s well worth it. 

**[10:00am] _Gabriel:_** _I’ll give you a call, sweetheart. ;)_

Sam’s breath hitches in his throat, and he drops his forehead to the counter. If he has to hear one more sweetheart, he’s going to spontaneously combust.  

He checks the time and sighs. Time for a therapist appointment. 

——— 

Sam walks back from his appointment with an armload of new medications that his therapist said would most likely help with the scenting issue-- _"Not that you're scenting anyone, are you, Sam?"_

He'd responded truthfully-- _”Only if I'm lucky, doc."_

He made his way along the sidewalk, soft and considering. When he reaches his apartment, he throws out his old medication and puts the new pills in their place, stopping only to pop some anxiety pills before showering for the third time that day. The therapist had told him that the constant showering shouldn't be too much of a problem, unless he starts scrubbing too hard, so he resolves to limit himself to one starting tomorrow.  

He's just about to start lunch when his phone rings.  

Heart in his throat, he picks up. 

”Hello?" “Hey, Sammy." Dean's voice echoes through the phone, and Sam tries not to show his disappointment.  

“Oh. Hey, Dean." 

Evidently, he fails, because Dean responds with a half-chuckle and a bucket of snark. "Whoa there, buddy, expecting someone else? Actually, never mind, just tell me if you get some. Can you watch the pups next week? They really want to see you, and Cas and I could use a break." 

Sam blinks, his mind struggling to follow him from the completely different moods. "Uh, yeah, of course! Cas certainly seemed distracted this morning at the shop. And for the record, Dean, I _will not_ tell you if I get some." 

”Awesome." There's a pause, some shuffling, and then, "Go get 'em, Sammy." 

Sam rolls his eyes and hangs up.  

——— 

Sam can’t focus on anything but Gabe. He tries to write, but ends up smacking his forehead on the keyboard, hazel eyes filling his mind.  

He flips through his calander, and finds himself wondering when Gabriel’s birthday is so he can mark it down.  

He lays in bed, and finds himself trailing his hand below the waistband of his jeans, breath picking up as his arousal picks up, the image of Gabe’s hands on him thoroughly distracting him from trying to nap.  

He brushes dangerously closer, eyes fluttering shut and back starting to arch off the bed, when his phone rings.  

His eyes fly open and he sits up, scrambling for his phone and trying not to blush as he answers. “Yeah?” 

”Hey there, Moose, it’s Gabe,” Gabriel’s voice rings from the speaker, and yep, Sam’s definitely blushing now.  

”Speak of the Devil,” Sam mutters.  

“What?”  

”Nothing. Uh, you off work, then?” Sam asks hopefully.  

”Sure am, sweetheart. Should I pick you up?” Gabriel’s voice is smooth and confident, and Sam can practically hear the smirk in his tone. 

”Uh. Sure. Unless- I dunno. Whatever you wanna do.” Sam wipes his hands on his jeans, ignoring the fact that he’s still painfully hard.  

”I know what _I_ wanna do,” Gabe says, and that doesn’t help his hard-on at all. “But it’s up to you.”  

Sam makes a helpless noise. “Uh. You wanna watch a movie? The Nightmare Before Christmas’s on Netflix.”  

A pause, followed by a voice considerably warmer than before. “You inviting me to Netflix and Chill, Sammy?” Gabriel asks, and Sam chokes on nothing, face flaming.  

”I-” Sam begins, but he doesn’t know what he’s going to say. _Only if you want to_ is the first thing that pops into his brain, and he wipes his hand across his mouth.  

”I’m just messing with you, Samsquatch.” A pause. “I’m glad you’re not opposed to celebrating Halloween so early.” Another pause, as if waiting for something. Finally, he says, “gonna need your address, though.” 

“Oh! Right.” Sam swings out of bed, getting to his feet. “I’ll text it to you.” 

“Alright. See you soon.” 

”Yeah,” Sam says. “Soon.”  

Gabriel hangs up first, and Sam shoots him the address before glancing down at his jeans.  

”Down, boy,” he says tiredly.  

——— 

Gabriel shows up ten minutes later, ringing at Sam’s doorbell. He had to have come straight from the café, and Sam has never been happier from the decision to kill a boner.  

He opens the door with a smile. “Gabe!”  

”You _were_ expecting me?” Gabriel quirks an eyebrow, and Sam laughs.  

“Of course. Come in.” He opens the door wide, stepping out of the way.  

_The Nightmare Before Christmas_ is already queued up on the screen, and Gabriel is clearly delighted by this.  

”Waiting for me, Sammy?” Gabriel asks, eyes twinkling, and the next words from Sam’s mouth are completely out of his control.  

”Of course, always.”  

——— 

Gabriel is star-struck. He’s done for. He’s fucked.  

He tells Meg as much, who laughs at him while she flips the sign to open. “He text you last night, then?”  

”Yeah.” Gabriel drapes himself across the counter, hiding his face in the crook of his elbow.  

”Get off the counter.” A wet towel hit him in the face, courtesy of Meg, and he yelped, rolling off the counter and onto the floor. “You know the customers’ll be flooding in soon.”  

”Whatever,” Gabriel grumbled, getting to his feet. “I’ll start the ovens.” He made his way to the back, starting up the kitchen and washing the floor germs off of his hands.  

His phone pings for the second time that morning, echoing through the tiny room they called a kitchen. He pulled it out of his pocket and bit his lip at the notification.  

_One new message from: Samsquatch_

He was almost too scared to read it, afraid his response had crossed a line. Steeling his nerves, he swiped his phone open.  

**[7:00am] _Samsquatch:_** _see you today, then?_

**[7:15am] _Gabriel:_** _only if you show up ;)_

Smirking, Gabe puts his phone away and makes his way out to the counter, a smile on his face while he greets his first customer.  

——— 

The giant shows up five minutes later, ducking through the door with wide eyes and a flushed face. Gabriel smirks, passing the coffee he’s holding to the person in front of him with a quiet “thank you,” and he slides to the counter to bump Meg away from the register.  

”What the hell, Gabriel?” She asks as he hands the newest customer his change, smiling brightly.  

”I can take over from here,” he says, turning to wink at her.  

Meg rolls her eyes, but wipes her hands on the towel slung over her shoulder and starts making the coffee anyway. “Fine.”  

When Sam makes it to the front of the line, Gabe begins to smile in earnest, the reaction drawn out by one simple realization. “No laptop today?” He asks with a pointed nod.  

Meg hands him the coffee, and Gabriel delights in Sam’s slightly puzzled expression for a few moments before continuing. “Forgot it? I’m that tempting, am I?”  

Sam turns as red as a blushing virgin, and Gabe winks, passing him the coffee.  

When Sam reaches for his money, Gabriel tuts, stopping the Beta in his tracks. “On the house, Samsquatch.”  

Sam’s mouth opens and closes a few times before he says, “Samsquatch, now?” 

Gabriel winks. “Holding up the line, sweetheart.”  

Sam blushes even harder, if that’s possible, and fumbles to put away his wallet. “S-sorry,” he mumbles. 

Gabriel watches in a strange mix of amusement and hurt as Sam leaves the shop, coffee still in hand. _Did I cross a line?_ Seeing the giant reduced to a blushing mess was a pleasure, but if Sam was genuinely uncomfortable, Gabe didn’t want to push that boundary.  

It takes him a few minutes of wrapping up with some customers before Gabriel can get his phone back out, but he shoots a quick message to Sam.  

**[7:30am] _Gabriel:_** _Sorry if I scared ya off, samsquatch_

The immediate response is refreshing and somewhat adorable, and Gabriel’s heart does a samba in his chest at the three words that come through.  

**_Samsquatch:_** _no, you’re fine_

**_Samsquatch:_** _i just went to get my laptop_

Gabriel grins, putting his phone back away, and gets back to work.  

Cas walks in and orders his regular two coffees with a tight frown. When Gabriel asks, he says, “it smells familiar in here,” and leaves, almost forgetting his wallet on the counter.  

Gabriel looks for someone to take his mind off of Sam, and finds that someone rather quickly. One of his regular customers is sitting in a window seat with his newest lady friend, and Gabriel walks up with a grin, notepad in hand.  

“Balthazar! Can I get anything for you today?”  

The blond man looks up from his date’s tits and grins. “Not unless you’ve got any alcohol hidden away in that kitchen of yours,” he says with a wink.   

Gabriel’s smile becomes canned, and he slides the notepad back away. “No can do, Balt,” he says. “You know I don’t do that anymore.”  

“Yeah, yeah,” the man said, rolling his eyes. “Killjoy.” 

“If that’s all,” Gabriel prompts, and flings himself away at Balthazar’s dissmissive hand-flap.  

He busies himself with restocking the scones on the counter, looking up only when he hears the bell ring on the door.  

It’s fairly obvious when Sam walks in- his frame very nearly doesn’t fit in the door that was made for _normal-size_ humans, and Gabriel gives him a smirk.  

Sam blushes, chewing on his bottom lip, and ducks into a booth, setting up the laptop he actually remembered to bring this time.  

Gabriel is both delighted and curious when the typing stats up in earnest, a stark difference from the last time the Beta was in his shop.  

He shakes himself from his reverie, smiling up at his newest customer. “Can I help you?”  

——— 

It’s long time before Gabriel makes his way over to Sam’s booth, held back by nerves and a particularly impatient customer, but when he does walk over, coffee in hand, it’s well worth it.  

“Hey there, Moose,” Gabriel says as he sets the coffee down in front of Sam.  

Sam lifts himself from his painful-looking hunched position, smiling shyly. “You just gonna have a new name for me every time we talk, then?” He asks, and Gabriel grins wider. 

“I can’t take credit for that. You can thank Meg’s boyfriend.” Gabriel sets a hand on his hip, tilting his head. The longer he stands near the Beta, the more he starts to realize what had seemed off about him earlier in the day.  

Sam nods, accepting the coffee with a little smile that makes Gabe’s heart stop.  

After a moment, the change occurs to him, and he announces louder than he meant to, “you smell different.” He slides into the booth across from Sam, and it hits him full-force; the smell of sweets and baking that Gabriel associates with himself coming off the Beta in pleased waves.  

“Good different or bad different?” Sam asks, brushing some of his hair out of his face.  

“I don’t think you can smell bad different, babe,” Gabriel says with a grin. He leans forward despite himself, the smell of ownership on the Beta too much to resist. 

“That’s not very professional of you,” Sam says, and Gabriel’s temporarily thrown of his rhythm.  

Mentally smacking himself, he continues. “C’mon, sweetheart, all sense of professionalism went out the window when I gave you my number.” Gabriel smirks, but he’s distracted by the hint of arousal in Sam’s scent, and he’s suddenly very glad of the slick pads he’d almost forsaken this morning.  

“Gabriel?” Sam tilts his head, and Gabriel shakes his head, backing off. 

“Sorry, you just smell...” Gabriel shakes his head. _Jesus Christ, this Beta will be the death of me._ He stands, sliding out of the booth. “Sorry, I’ve gotta get back to work.”  

He resists every urge to run back and publicly debauch the Beta, and he doesn’t look over his shoulder to see if he’s watching.  

——— 

“Meg, you have to do it.” Gabriel snaps the lid on the travel cup and smiles pleasantly at the elderly alpha he passes it to. 

“Thank you, dearie,” she says, patting Gabriel’s hand, before hobbling off.  

“Why me?” Meg asks, one hand on her hip. “Why can’t you do your flirting yourself?”  “Because,” Gabriel insists. When she raises her eyebrows, he sighs. “You’ll see when you get there. Now go go go go go.” He hands her the coffee and waves her out from behind the counter.  

She sighs. “You owe me one, buddy,” She says, pointing at him threateningly, then sashays off, towards Sam.  

Gabriel busies himself with making a new pot of coffee as they chat, very pointedly not staring until Meg walks back, nose crinkled and coffee-free. “So?” He prompts.  

“Well, now I know why you didn’t want to go over there,” she says, shivering a little. “He smells more like you than _you_ do.”  

“Right?!” Gabriel looks over her shoulder at him, scent turning wistful.  

“Oh no, you are not doing that,” Meg says, pushing her palm firmly against his chest.  

“Why not?” Gabe pouts, crossing his arms. 

“Because you have a type,” Meg says.  

“I do not!” He looks up at her, full of indignance, but she steamrolls right over him.  

“Yes you do! It’s all about the sad ones, who need fixing.” She frowns at him, then relents a little. “Although he is considerably happier than he was yesterday, I will admit.”  

“Thank you,” Gabriel huffs. Behind her, Sam stands, and Gabriel watches helplessly.  

Just before he leaves, Sam waves, and Gabriel returns it. 

Sam pushes open the door and starts typing something on his phone. 

The alert on Gabriel’s resounds through the shop before the door closes all the way, and Sam walks by the windows with a renewed spring in his step.  

“Oh, also,” Meg adds, almost offhandedly, “I told him that he smells like you, and he totally digs the ravishing idea.”  

_“What?”_

——— 

It takes him a while to get to his phone, partly because the shop hits a rush and partly because of his own nerves (and partly because Meg snatched it to read through his conversations with Sam), but when he finally gets it back, the message awaiting there almost makes him track Sam down then and there.  

**[9:10am] _Samsquatch:_** _feel free to call me when you get off_

Gabriel almost makes a dirty joke, but quickly thinks better.  

**[10:00am] _Gabriel:_** _I'll give you a call, sweetheart ;)_

He closes up shop at one, so he shows Meg the messages (who sighs and offers to cover the last three hours), pockets his phone, and rolls up his sleeves.  

Time to get to work.  

——— 

As Meg flips the sign to closed on her way out, Gabriel picks up his phone and immediately starts dialing.  

Three rings in, Sam picks up, voice breathless and sounding distracted. “Yeah?”  

“Hey there, Samsquatch, it’s Gabe.”  

A response, so quiet that Gabriel almost thinks he imagined it. “Speak of the Devil.”  

Gabriel grins, wide and slow. _Thinking of me, Sammy?_  “What?” He asks.  

“Nothing,” Sam says, too quickly, and Gabriel feels warmly pleased. “Uh, you off work, then?” Sam asks, his mind still very clearly somewhere else.  

“Sure am, sweetheart. Should I pick you up?” Gabriel smirks, pushing his hair back as he leans agaisnt the counter. 

“Uh. Sure. Unless- I dunno. Whatever you wanna do.” Sam’s voice is careful, like he knows what he wants but he’s afraid to ask for it.  

“I know what I wanna do,” Gabriel says instinctively, a flash of naked Sam appearing before his eyes, “but it’s up to you.”  

Sam makes a slightly strangled noise, and Gabe grins. “Uh. You wanna watch a movie? The Nightmare Before Christmas’s on Netflix.”  

Gabriel pauses, immensely pleased at the offer. “You inviting me to Netflix and Chill, Sammy?” He asks, and Sam chokes. 

“I-” Sam starts, but he cuts himself off, and whatever he was going to say hangs in the air, effortlessly pulling Gabriel deeper into this web of attraction. 

“I’m just messing with you, Samsquatch.” Gabriel waits for a response, but there is none, so he continues. “I’m glad you’re not opposed to celebrating Halloween so early,” he says, because that would definitely be a deal breaker. Or, it would be, if this wasn’t Sam. He waits, but Sam’s brain seems to have stopped working. “Gonna need your address, though.”  

“Oh! Right.” Rustling sounding suspiciously like bedsheets travels down the line. “I’ll text it to you.” 

“Alright. See you soon,” Gabriel says. Hopefully. Unless you live deceptively far away.  

“Yeah,” Sam responds, obviously distracted again. “Soon.”  

Gabriel hangs up, and the address comes through almost immediately. A quick google tells him that the walk is ten minutes away. With a grin, Gabe remembers the five-minute appearance Sam pulled in the morning. _Musta been in a rush._

He pockets his phone and starts walking, a skip to his step. 

——— 

When Gabriel walks in, the first thing he notices is the thick smell of arousal. Clearly, he interrupted something with his call, and he goes to say something about it, but the Beta seems clueless.  

His eyebrows slowly hike up as Sam continues to act as if nothing is off, but his gaze is quickly caught by the screen, The Nightmare Before Christmas ready to play.  

“Waitin’ for me, Sammy?” He asks, grinning delightedly. 

“Of course,” Sam says simply. “Always.” 

The amount of slick that gushes from Gabriel should be illegal outside of heat.  

Sam turns red, and he looks down, rubbing the back of his neck. He looks like he’s about to say something, but Gabriel blurts our a rather regrettable statement first.  

“Hot damn, how are you single?”  

Sam’s demeanor turns from shy to sad, and the odd melancholy scent that he carried when he first met Gabriel ebbs back in. “I wasn’t,” he says with a bitter smile.  

Gabriel isn’t sure how to respond to that at all, so he simply says, “How about this movie, then, huh?” 

The smell stays for a while, but as the movie progresses (and Gabriel inched steadily closer to him on the couch), Sam seems to pull himself from whatever reverie he was in and starts responding to Gabriel’s cues, until the Omega ends up with his head on Sam’s shoulder, solidly dozing.  

As Gabriel drifts off, he swears Sam lets out a small, happy rumble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if this was too repetitive!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! This fic is set in my “I Did Something Bad” ‘Verse, and while you don’t need to read it before this, there’s gonna be a few spoilers from installments yet to be published. 
> 
> Please be sure to leave a comment and tell me what you think!! Comments give me life/motivation.
> 
> (title from “Heaven” by Warrant)


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